The Grenadiers hastily re-dug their foxholes after the IS-2s smashed apart their defenses only hours earlier.

The Pioneers and pak40s are deployed in ambush.

Tom's bazillion Shermans line up on the Left flank, while the strelk blobs both weight the right flank.

The right flank makes an infiltration move deep into the German area, giving up the first turn.

*A German objective and the 10.5cm battery

*A gun crew prepares to fire

*The Grenadiers on the right flank prepare to hold the line

*The tank riders prepare to mount their lend lease emchas

*A Strelkovy company infilitrates the German lines with the aid of a scout group

*"Alright men, here they come!!"

*The Right Flank

The board before turn 1

*************** TURN ONE GERMAN ***************

Artillery and mortars rain down on the approaching horde, and knock out 3 rifle stands. Small arms fire opens up from the forward grenadier platoon, scoring 14 hits, and killing 6 stands.

*The soviets weather intense fire

*************** TURN ONE SOVIET ***************

The horde unpins, and charges forward. Small arms fire is ineffectual, but flamethrowers open up pinning the defenders. The assault succeeds and pushes the grenadiers back, killing 2 teams.

*The Bolsheviks advance

*The defenders' foxholes are filled with flame

*The Germans fall back

*************** TURN TWO GERMAN ***************

The Grenadiers unpin, but still no reserves arrive. At the urging of the hauptman, the forward grenadiers rush forward to assault the bolsheviks!

The mortars lay down a smoke barrage to cut down on the russian defensive fire, and the 10.5cm artillery ranges in to put their heads down, but fails to kill anyone. Small arms fire from the grenadiers causes a few casualties, but defensive fire pins them down pushing them back.

*Smoke and shells pepper the soviets in the open

*The Germans fall back in the face of heavy defensive fire

*************** TURN TWO SOVIET ***************

Of course the horde unpins and continues forward, threating the forward objective! The fire from the bolsheviks is whithering, killing the hauptman and most of the remaining grenadier platoon, who then flees the field.

The assault kills everyone except the 2iC who promptly pulls back into the woods.

*Shermans on the move

*The rear strelkovy company navigates the terrain

*The Soviets take the position

*The scouts move up the creek bed

*The end of turn two

***************** TURN THREE GERMAN *****************

The Pioneers spring their ambush in the woods, and prepare a desperate assault against the strelkovy on their objective. The mortars send one team forward to contest the objective, while the remaining attempts to drop a barrage on some soviets in the open, and despite being a single tube kills 2 stands. On the other flank, the 3 pak 40s ambush the Shermans, along with a calculated barrage from the 10.5cms, killing 4 and bailing 4. the Stoic tankers do not flee however.

Small arms fire from the ambushing pioneers devastate the remaining strelkovy company, ahead of the assault. The germans lose one stand, but finally run off the remaining strelkovy company.

*The pioneers ambush and charge forward!

*The pak 40s ambush the approaching sherman company

*The shermans sustain heavy damage

*Mortar and small arms fire softens up the strelkovy for the assault

*The first strelkovy company melts before the pioneers

*After the German turn 3

***************** TURN THREE SOVIET *****************

The scouts move along the creek bed, and assault the mortars, knocking out one tube and take up position around the objective.

*The scouts capture a mortar team

*The remainders of the shermans attempt to take cover behind a wood

**************** TURN FOUR GERMAN ****************

Stugs arrive from reserve. The pioneers and a grenadier platoon move up to secure the objective, in preparation of the second strelk wave.

The pak 40s destroy 3 more emchas, forcing the remainder to flee the battlefield. The stugs and artillery range in on the scouts, and knock out 2 teams.

*3 Stug IVs arrive from reserve

*Soviet scouts come under artillery fire

**************** TURN FOUR SOVIET ****************

The scouts fail to unpin. The last strelk horde advances, while the scouts pull back into a small wood.

**************** TURN FIVE GERMAN ****************

The marders arrive from reserve, but two bog on a stream. The stugs race forward to the wood containing the scouts, and hope to catch them before they can disengage. The pioneers on the forward objective consolidate their position. The 10.5cm Battery ranges in on the strelkovy company, killing one stand. The stugs move up to the edge of the wood and shoot the scouts, who promptly disengage.

*The 10.5cm battery furiously fires their guns

*The defenders of the forward objective

*The stugs chase off the scouts

**************** TURN FIVE SOVIET ****************

The scouts withdraw, and the strelk blob slides to the right along the bridge.

*2nd Company shifts to their right.

*************** TURN SIX GERMAN ***************

The Stugs hook around the strelkovy blob's flank, and the pioneers reposition again. The

artillery rains death on the bridge, killing 2 infantry and an HMG. The stugs machine gun

another strelk stand.

*************** TURN SIX SOVIET ***************

The strelk horde unpins and advances. The scouts withdraw further.

*The Strelkovy are relentless

***************** TURN SEVEN GERMAN *****************

The Marders advance down the road, and the stugs continue to flank the strelkovy, raking them with MGs, killing another stand. The 10.5cms fire a repeat on the bridge, again knocking out a stand.

The stugs assault the strelkovy in the woods, bogging one on the way in. They only kill one stand, and promptly fall back leaving one to be captured.

*The Marders have no armored targets!

*The stugs navigate the burning wrecks of the shermans

*The soviets capture a stug

***************** TURN EIGHT SOVIET *****************

The strelk advances forward, and assault the pioneers with flamethrowers blazing! The assault is bloody, with soviets losing troops to both germans and their own commisars! When the smoke clears, the pioneers are eliminated, and the strelkovy is sitting on the objective!

*ZA STALINA!

*The high water mark

**************** TURN NINE GERMAN ****************

The last grenadier platoon and the marders swarm the objective, in an attempt to win it back!

MG and 10.5cm fire pounds the soviet positions, pinning them and knocking them below half!

The stugs assault the scouts in the woods, bogging another on the way in! One scout stand dies, but the the leader remains and forces the last stug back! Both platoons make their motivation check to keep fighting.

The grenadiers assault the soviets in the woods, killing off the remainder of the strelkovy.

The soviets now only have a single infantry stand left on the board, making it a 4-3 for the germans.

*The remaining bolsheviks are surrounded

*The 10.5cms fire their few remaining shells at the reds

*The stugs are foolishly relentless in their pursuit of the scouts, and promptly lose another!

*Charge!

*The soviets heroically fight to the last man

*Though the Germans are victorious, their company now exists only on paper as over 85% of the men have been killed or wounded

*The only surviving soviet

TOM'S CLOSING THOUGHTS:

The Strelk infantry performed admirably, even dying to the last man. But it matters not, if my wretched tanks cant roll motivation.